The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program has helped more than 725,000 Florida students attend a postsecondary institution.

The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program was created to establish a lottery-funded scholarship program to reward any Florida high school graduate who merits recognition of high academic achievement. The graduate must enroll in a degree program, certificate program or applied technology program at an eligible Florida public or private postsecondary education institution.

Learn more about Bright Futures.

There are 4 different Florida Bright Futures scholarships, each with unique, specific requirements for qualification. 

• Florida Academic Scholars award (FAS),
• Florida Medallion Scholars award (FMS),
• Florida Gold Seal CAPE Scholars award (GSC), and the
• Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars award (GSV). 

Click the link to learn more about the specific requirements for each scholarship.

Here is a great resource about Bright Futures for the class of 2026. 

Students who complete a standard diploma may be considered for a Bright Futures Scholarship or other grant awarded through the state. In order to be considered, the student must complete the Florida Financial Aid Application (FFAA). 

All seniors, regardless of plan for after high school, should create a Florida Financial Aid Application (FFAA) account, which is the application for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarships as well as other state-based grants for trade school and college. 

Students cannot create the profile until October 1^st of their senior year.

Seniors graduating mid-way through their senior year (September 1, 2025 through January 31, 2026) need to file their FFAA no later than December 31, 2025. 

Seniors graduating in May 2026 through July 2026 need to file their FFAA no later than August 31, 2026. 

The FFAA cannot be created after the deadline. Failure to meet the deadline will result in the inability to receive any scholarships or grants that come from the FFAA (including Bright Futures), even if you meet the other requirements or enroll in a postsecondary institution in the state of Florida later on.

See your school's College and Career Counselor for help and/or view this step-by-step guide to be sure you create your account correctly. 

Click here to learn more about the FFAA and FAFSA.

Eligibility is determined by the state, not your high school. 

Your Bright Futures GPA is the GPA reflective of only the courses required for the Bright Futures scholarship. So, this GPA will look different than the weighted and unweighted GPA on your high school transcript.

The state pulls the grades from required courses, work hours, and community service hours from your high school transcript.

The state has access to your SAT, CLT, and ACT scores as long as you send your scores directly to Bright Futures or any public college/university in Florida (example: Valencia College, University of Central Florida). Your high school cannot send your test scores for you. 

Your transcript is submitted to the state for evaluation at the start of your senior year, halfway through your senior year, and at the end of your senior year. This is why it is so important to report your volunteer and/or work hours using the correct form as you accrue them. Not at the end of senior year.

The later you qualify, the longer it will take to earn your scholarship money.

Click here to learn how SDOC students track their volunteer and work hours to be eligible for Bright Futures.

If you graduate in May, you have until August 31^st of that same year to earn the test score required for Bright Futures. Qualifying late will delay your eligibility decision and the release of funds for your Bright Futures scholarship. It can take up to 8 weeks after test day for the state to receive your scores for processing.

Please note, most colleges will not accept test scores to be used for admission later than October of senior year. Meaning, the latest you can sit for the SAT, CLT, or ACT to be sure schools receive your scores by October is usually August of your senior year, unless otherwise stated by the college. Learn more about the 4-year college application timeline here.